Teagyn Vallevand can’t wait to be an Elder. When she is, she’ll have all the time in the world for weaving.
“I’ve been working on micro-weaving, mostly earrings,” she says, laughing that her work is a fraction the size of the robes made by most practitioners of the Ravenstail weaving she does. “It’s all I have the patience for right now.”
That might be because Vallevand, an artist and citizen of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, has taken on so much this year.
In addition to a new role as curator at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre (KDCC), she’s been selected for the Yukon Arts Centre’s RBC Emerging Indigenous Curator Program.
This summer, YAC will work with Teagyn on her first large exhibition at KDCC, which will explore Indigenous tattooing traditions. In the fall, she will continue to expand her curatorial practice by curating exhibitions in YAC’s Yukon Energy Community Gallery. Beyond exhibition development, the RBC funding will also support research travel, allowing her to visit collections and gain behind-the-scenes experience in museum and gallery collection management.
As part of that program, she’ll travel to Zurich, Switzerland, when an exhibition of Yukon First Nations graduation regalia shows at the Nordamerika Native Museum (NONAM) in early April.
While there, Vallevand will do a demonstration of Ravenstail weaving, a traditional Tlingit form of geometric weaving, though she’s most excited about what she’ll be bringing back rather than what she’s taking there.
It’s really beneficial to go do research and bring that knowledge back home,”
“It’s really beneficial to go do research and bring that knowledge back home,” she says of being able to tour the NONAM and Bern’s Museum of Contemporary Circumpolar Art (MCCA), see how they program exhibitions in a completely different space, and explore the way they manage their collections (which include weaving from a group of Yukoners who travelled to the museum 25 years ago). “It helps us as First Nations people to appreciate where we come from and learn new techniques to benefit our community.”
In the case of the MCCA, and of the program at YAC, Vallevand is talking about the collections aspect of the art world. Vallevand herself has worked as an artist for years, but since taking on her role at the KDCC, she’s realized how different it is to think about art as a solo artist versus thinking about it as a curator.
For instance, she’d never really considered how her own woven earrings will look 50 years from now. Today, that’s a key part of her consideration when she looks at any work. From a curatorial perspective, you need to assess more than just the artistry. You need to have a plan to preserve it. Part of her job is ensuring that future generations will also be able to appreciate the pieces she appreciates today. As a curator, the way she handles, displays and stores work impacts the way that work is able to tell stories down the road.
Another thing she’s already learned from YAC’s curator program is how to manage multiple projects at once.
“I always have very big ideas,” she says. “And I have to scale them down.”
Helping to plan shows and events this year (including a tattoo gathering at the KDCC this spring and a March exhibition called My Big Bougie Beaded Earrings) has given her an appreciation for timelines and management. Vallevand still gets excited by all her very big ideas, but says she’s learned to consider all potential components of a project and realize what’s realistic to finish.
“We are thrilled to be working with Teagyn. There are already so many brilliant and insightful ideas on the table,” says Mary Bradshaw, Director of Visual Arts at YAC. “This program reflects our commitment to fostering Indigenous leadership in the arts while creating space for important cultural narratives to be shared with the community.”
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